Hope men's golfers to tee off at D-III nationals this afternoon

Hope College men's golf captains Collin Breit
and Evan Telzerow envisioned playing golf in North Carolina long before the
season started nine months ago.

This afternoon, the two co-captains will
realize their dream when the Flying Dutchmen tee off at the 2014 NCAA Division
III Men's Golf Championships. The 72-hole, four-day tournament will be played
at Grandover Resort & Conference Center in Greensboro, N.C.

"It
means a lot," said Breit, a junior from Muskegon, Michigan (Western Michigan
Christian HS). "Evan and I were talking before the season started, setting up
goals. Definitely, one thing we wanted was to get back to nationals. It means a
lot to have the opportunity to try to do our best there."

Tee times for Hope begin at 12:45 p.m.

It is Hope's ninth trip to nationals and
sixth since 2006. Coach
Bob Ebels' Flying Dutchmen are aiming to surpass their team-best finish of
ninth in 2010.

Hope
advanced to nationals by winning the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic
Association's 54-hole Division III qualifier last month. The Flying Dutchmen
shot a team score of 919 to win by 15 strokes. They also won the regular-season
MIAA championship last fall.

Hope
has relied on a balanced lineup this season.

Freshman
Winton Munch of Traverse City, Michigan (Traverse City Central HS), tops the
Flying Dutchmen with an 18-hole average of 75.1 over 14 rounds. He was the
MIAA's Most Valuable Golfer last fall.

Breit
and Telzerow are familiar with competing at a national level. They played at
the 2012 national championship where the Flying Dutchmen placed 35th
out of 41 teams.

Breit
said he learned from his first trip to nationals that he and his teammates
should have confidence in their games while competing with the nation's best.

"These
guys are all great players, and I remember thinking I've got to play out of my
mind," Breit said. "My freshman year, I realized (nationals are) about who is
hot at the right time and who's playing well. We definitely have the guys who
can put up some numbers to put us in a spot that's competitive."